Small blast near UK embassy in Bahrain

A small explosion has occurred in a bus parked near the British embassy in the Bahraini capital, without causing casualties, says the interior ministry in the Gulf state swept by unrest earlier this year.

"A blast from the front part of a bus parked near the British embassy in Ras Rumman," the diplomatic district of Manama, the ministry tweeted on Sunday.

Five other cars parked in the area were also damaged but there were no casualties, a ministry spokesman said.

"Security services are present in the area to take the needed legal measures," he said, adding security was boosted around embassies.

In London, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said British authorities were in contact with the interior ministry in Bahrain.

"We are aware of a small blast in a vehicle near the British embassy," she told AFP. "Police and fire service attended the scene. There were no casualties or damage to the embassy."

She declined to speculate on the cause of the blast. "We are liaising with the ministry of interior," she said.

The British embassy in Tehran was ransacked last Tuesday by a pro-regime mob after London slapped new sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain was rocked by Shi'ite-led pro-democracy protests between mid-February and mid-March. It accuses Shi'ite-dominated Iran of backing unrest in the kingdom, a charge denied by Tehran and the opposition.

On Friday, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that former British police boss John Yates and US ex-cop John Timoney will oversee reforms to Bahrain's security force after a report found it guilty of human rights abuses.

A special independent commission probing Bahrain's crackdown on protests in February-March said on November 23 that police had used "excessive force" and tortured detainees, prompting King Hamad to vow reforms.

The king commissioned the report to investigate allegations of government misconduct and human rights abuses against protesters, democracy activists and opposition figures.

The death toll from Bahrain's uprising reached 35, including five security personnel, the report found. Five detainees were tortured to death while in custody and hundreds were also injured.